Cleaning brush and scraper for elongated cylindrical work items



Def. 1, 1957 R. LEEMING 2,807,814

CLEANING BRUSH AND SCRAPER FOR ELONGATED CYLINDRICAL WORK ITEMS Filed 001;. 7, 1955 LLOYD R. LEEM/NG 55 INVENTOR.

BY ia-m.

CLEANIN G BRUSH AND SCRAPER FOR ELON- GATED CYLINDRICAL WORK ITEMS Lloyd R. Leeming, Monterey Park, Calif.

Application October 7, 1955, Serial No. 539,299

1 Claim. (Cl. -111) This invention relates to cleaning brushes. It has particular application to a brush of which the cleaning elements are bristles of wire or other stiff material for cleaning bars or rods of iron and similar objects; a barbecue grill brush is much improved by the utilization of this invention in its construction.

One object of the invention is the provision of means for laterally supporting the bristles at their outer cleaning ends to'prevent their being bent sideways. The pressure applied longitudinally to the bristles at their outer ends during a cleaning operation tends also to crushthe bristles inwardly against each other, causing their outer ends to be mashed, and bent in curves in tangled relationship toward each other. In this deformed condition they contact the bar to be cleaned at an ineffective acute angle instead of in the proper perpendicular position for abrasion of the foreign matter from the bar. Another object of the invention is to eliminate this tendency. A brush constructed according to this invention is not intended to clean laterally extended surfaces of metal or other similar hard materials, but is intended to clean longitudinally extended relatively narrow surfaces such as rods and bars, like those used for barbecue grills and spits, and the grill bars of gas, electric and other cook stove burners. The invention has as an object to so mount and house the cleaning bristles as to hold them in contact with such objects to be cleaned and prevent sidewise slipping of the bristles out of such a contactual position.

Still another object is to provide in a bar cleaner of the general type above mentioned, a scraper blade conforming to the sectional contour of the bar to be cleaned and mounted on the same holder with the brush in such a position that by selectively changing the position of the brush, to the work, the cleaner may first be used as a scraper for initial cleaning and then used as a brush for final and more thorough cleaning.

In one embodiment of the invention herein illustrate and described, the brushing element, the scraper and the holder by which the operator grasps the cleaner are three separable elements so constructed and related that the scraper element which carries the scraper blade, is designed and shaped to act as a movable fastener for securing the holder and brush in fixed operative relationship. The invention thus provides the advantage of ready replacement of the brush or scraper as needed.

It will be understood that the invention is capable of various embodiments, some of which may have one or more of these advantages and not others. Several kinds of embodiments other than those herein set forth will readily suggest themselves to those familiar with metal cleaners, for realizing any one or more of the objects and advantages of the invention. The invention embraces any structure which comes within the descriptive language of the appended claim.

In the drawing which illustrates some embodiments of the invention,

' United States Patent ICC Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a first cleaner embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the same cleaner.

Figure 3 is an elevational view of this cleaner showing the working end of the cleaner in vertical longitudinal section, and showing the brush element in operative position on a barbecue bar.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the cleaner with the scraper in operative position on a barbecue bar.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of a second form of cleaner embodying the invention.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 88 of Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a third form of brush embodying the invention.

The cleaner shown in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive comprises a holder 11, a brush element 12, and a slidable fastening clip 13.

The holder 11 is preferably made of hard wood or a suitable plastic material. It-has a handle 14, shaped to be firmly and comfortably grasped by the hand of the operator. The holder is shaped as shown to have a forwardly extending block 15 preferably integrally connected to the handle by an upwardly curvilinear arm 16. This block is the mount for the brush element 12.

It has a vertical median cleft or slot 17 extending forwardly from a vertical transverse surface 18 (see dotted line 18 of Figure 1) to the front end of the block and extending vertically from top to bottom of the'block 15, forwardly of surface 18, and from the horizontal surface 18a ,(see dotted line 18a, Fig. 1) to the bottom of the block, rearwardly of surface 18.

The cleft 17 divides the front end of the block into two similar side walls 19 of identical shape and size. The walls 19 have vertical plane outer faces 20. Their inner faces 21 are also plane and vertical for the major portion of their depth, but preferably flair slightly outward from each other for the rest of their depth as shown at 22. The vertical end surfaces 23 of the walls 19 are slightly recessed in the manner shown at 24 midway of their depth.

The brush element or brush 12 consists essentially of a plurality of bristles 36 mounted to lie generally parallel to each other. As shown in the drawing the brush consists of a plurality of short lengths 25 of wire each bent around a core piece 26 of heavier wire, the two ends of each wire 25 extending away from the core 26 in the same direction, and held in place on the core by a sheet metal bristle clamping head 27. The head portion 27 of the brush is thick enough to fit snugly between the side walls 19 and is long enough to extend the full length of the cleft.17 from the end wall 18 thereof to the vertical'end walls 23. The two end portions of each bristle wire terminate in a horizontal plane 28 at a level appreciably above the bottom surface 29 of the side walls 19 of the block 15.

The brush element 12 is held in placein the cleft 17 by a slidable retainer 13. The retainer 13 is made by bending a sheet metal blank of the proper shape to provide a top wall 30, vertical side walls 31 and 32, a pair of end flanges 33, a pair of end flanges 34, and the scraper blade 35. The side walls 31 and 32 fit snugly over the outer vertical surfaces of the side Walls 19. The top wall 30 lies flat against the upper top surfaces of the side walls 19. The flanges 33 lie over and engage the upper portion of the rear end of the brush element 12, holding it fair with the end surfaces 23 of the side walls 19 when the retainer 13 is pushed home longitudinally of the holder 11 to a position where it can be fastened in such longitudinal home position, as by a small nail 37. Vertical movement of the rear end of the retainer, and consequently vertical movement of the rear end of the brush element, is prevented by the flanges 34 of the retainer .by reason of their engagement with the upper and lower horizontal faces of the small recessed end surfaces 24 of the end vertical surfaces 23 of the side walls 19 of the cleft 17.

' The scraper 35 is formed with a small arcuate indentation or notch 38 which is designed to conform to the cylindrical surface of a wire, bar or rod of a barbecue grill or other such item. Thus the scraper blade is held against shifting and slipping laterally off the Work item and is capable of cleaning the work item evenly around a portion of the circumference of its surface. The cleaner is assembled by sliding the brush element into place between the Walls 19 of the cleft 17, and then pushing the retainerg13 over the sidewalls ,19 until the flanges 33 and 34 contact the end of the brush mount, whereupon thenail 37 is pushed into place, or, if an alternate fastening'means is provided until that alternate means has been adjusted to fastening position.

A barbecue rod or wire 39 is firstscraped by inverting the holder and moving it along the wire 39 as shown in Fig. 5, and then restoring the holder to its normal position and, moving the bristles 36 back and forth over the barbecue wire, rod or bar 39 as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. i

It will be noticed that the side walls 19, of the brush mount protect the bristles from spreading sideways. Such spreading of the bristles is apt to permanently deform them in a way to lower their future efficiency of action, in that the sides and not the ends of the bristles will thenengage the work object. Even without permanent deformation it deflects the bristles to either side of the work object and prevents contact of the bristle ends with the barbecue grill bar which is being cleaned. The side ,walls of the brush holder keep the work object squarely under the working ends of the bristles acting as longitudinal guides for the brush. They also maintain all of the bristle ends compactly in a single horizontal plane, where they will each take a substantially equal share of the abrasive load. Thus wear across the plane surface in which lie the ends of the bristles, will be uniform, extending the efficiently operative life of the bristles and brush. The bottom surfaces of the protective side walls 19 should be sufficiently below the surface of the lower ends of the bristles to pass over the work object and hold 'it laterally for cleaning at a level: that is substantially above these bottom surfaces of the protective walls.

In the second form of the invention shown in Figures ,6, 7, and 8, a sheet metal blank of bendable metal of the proper shape is stamped out to make the holder 46. The blank has two end portions 40 and 41 each of the shape shown in Fig. 6 which are connected by a neck 42, when one of these end portions is bent back upon the other to form the two sides of the holder. Each side is slightly fiaired away from the other side around its edges as shown at 43. A wad 47 of mineral wool, woven cleaning wire, or other such material, such as is used for cleaning pots and pans, or a disk-shaped brush of radially outwardly directed bristles, is forced into the space 44, between the two sides of the holder and is manipulated into such position that its abrasive peripheral edge extends out into the space between, but not substantially beyond the rim edges of the two sides. The flaired rims act as guides to hold the abrasive material in proper contact with the work object. The arcuate indentation 48 is provided for scraping the work object before it is brushed.

In a third form of the invention shown in Figure 9, the bristles 50 are set in a plastic or other holder 51 in any of the conventional ways of doing this. The holder has a slot or cleft 52,the walls 53 and 54 of which closely approach the bristles 50, supporting them against lateral bending stresses, and affording guides for lining up the working ends of the bristles with the elongated work object 55. As in the other two forms of the invention, the Work object should be inside of the outer edges of the walls 53, as shown in Figure 9.

I claim A cleaning tool for elongated cylindrical work items comprising: a hand holder; a brush mount on the holder formed with walls providing an elongated slot therebetween, said slot at a lower level thereof being open at its ends longitudinally of the tool to receive for cleaning the work item between the walls of said slot; a brush element of wire bristles mounted on the mount between the walls of said slot and directed into the slot to, the

position of a work item at said lower level; and a retainer rectilinearly and longitudinally slidable over the top surface and upper side surfaces of the walls of the mount, said retainer being slidable on the mount to an inner home position in which it holds the brush element against outward longitudinal movement on the mount and in which said retainer is securable against longitudinal movement on the mount, the side walls of the slot, each extending downwardly the same distance in lateral support of the bristles of the brush, said distance being sufficient to prevent extended lateral movement of the brush away from the work item being cleaned, and said retainer being formed with a scraper blade directed away from the holder in a direction opposite from that of the bristles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 439,916 Whittlesey Nov. 4, 1890 828,189 Burpee Aug. 7, 1906 1,548,383 Pickersgill Aug. 4, 1925 1,685,328 Kogler et a1. Sept. 25, 1928 1,707,118 Goldberg Mar. 26, 1929 1,766,870 Becker June 24, 1930 2,095,650 Reichenbach Oct. 12, 1937 2,116,406 Nancarrow May 3, 1938 2,322,718 Pease 3. June 22, 1943 2,534,439 Grandjean Dec. 19, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 88,250 Germany Oct. 24, 1896 

